Ancient Stone Altar Unearthed: Could It Reveal Secrets of a Forgotten Biblical Battle?
The altar that was uncovered shows two distinct inscriptions: one is a text in the ancient Moabite language, which is very similar to Hebrew, and the other is numerals written in Hieratic, an ancient Egyptian writing system. Archaeologists believe that these inscriptions may describe the events of the Mesha-led rebellion.
The 2,800-year-old inscriptions are still being deciphered by archaeologists, but researchers agree that one of the two writings on the ancient altar seems to be about bronze treasures that were pillaged after Mesha’s takeover of Ataroth.
“One might speculate that quantities of bronze looted from the conquered city of [Ataroth] at some later date were presented as an offering at the shrine and recorded on this altar,” researchers noted in the paper about the altar’s discovery that was published in the journal Levant.
The second part of the inscriptions proved more difficult to read by scientists, but the translation seems to write that “4,000 foreign men were scattered and abandoned in great number.” Another part of the text written in Moabite cites “the desolate city,” possibly a reference to the fallen Ataroth.
The uncovering of the inscribed ancient altar is significant given that the rebellion and subsequent conquest of Ataroth by King Mesha is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
In it, King Mesha is said to have been obligated to provide the Kingdom of Israel a tribute of thousands of lambs along with vast quantities of ram wool. Eventually, King Mesha rebelled against the Kingdom of Israel’s control and seized Ataroth.
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